Howard v. Crowder
| Decision Date | 03 October 1986 |
| Citation | 496 So.2d 31 |
| Parties | Ina HOWARD, individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Gracie Crowder, Deceased v. Joan W. CROWDER, as Guardian of Warren Lee Crowder. 84-1130. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
W. Border Strickland and Thomas A. Deas, Mobile, for appellant.
T.M. Brantley, Bay Minette, and Michael J. Salmon, Gulf Shores, for appellee.
This is a will contest. Ina Howard, proponent of a document purporting to be the last will and testament of Gracie Crowder, offered that will for probate. Joan W. Crowder, as guardian of Warren Lee Crowder, contested the will executed by Mrs. Crowder, alleging that the decedent lacked the requisite testamentary capacity to execute a will. At the close of all the evidence, Howard filed a motion for directed verdict, which was denied. The issue of testamentary capacity was submitted to the jury. The jury found that the decedent did not have the requisite testamentary capacity at the time she executed her will. Howard filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, motion for new trial, which was denied by the trial court, and which is the basis of this appeal. We affirm.
Williamson v. United Farm Agency, Inc., 401 So.2d 759, 763 (Ala.1981).
A motion for directed verdict should not be granted if there exists so much as "a mere gleam, glimmer, spark, the least particle, the smallest trace, or a scintilla in support of the theory of the complaint." Perdue v. Mitchell, 373 So.2d 650, 653 (Ala.1979), quoting from Kilcrease v. Harris, 288 Ala. 245, 252, 259 So.2d 797, 802 (1972).
The record contains the following evidence. Gracie Crowder executed her will in the office of Mr. James D. Brooks, an attorney in the firm of Reams, Vollner, Phillips, Killion, Brooks and Schell, in Mobile on October 26, 1977. Mrs. Crowder died on November 25, 1982. Ina Howard, the proponent, filed a petition to probate the will in the Probate Court of Mobile County on December 29, 1982, and the will was admitted to probate on April 12, 1983. Thereafter, Joan W. Crowder, as guardian of Warren Lee Crowder, filed a will contest. Ina Howard, the proponent, operated a boarding house where Gracie Crowder lived from November 1976 until Thanksgiving Day 1982. Joan Crowder, the contestant, is the wife and guardian of Warren Lee Crowder, who is the son of Gracie Crowder, the decedent.
Mr. Brooks testified for the proponent. He stated that Mrs. Crowder asked him to prepare her will and that, after a discussion she told him she wanted to leave her estate to Ina Howard; that Mrs. Howard had taken care of her; had been a friend of hers; and that her family had abandoned her. Mrs. Crowder stated that she had a son, Warren, but that she did not want to leave him anything because he had abandoned her. Mr. Brooks stated in substance that in his opinion Mrs. Crowder was a person of sound mind and knew what she was doing. The two secretaries in Mr. Brooks's office who witnessed the will testified in substance that in their opinions the deceased was of sound mind, and they testified that the will was executed in the customary practice of the law firm. Ina Howard and an employee of the boarding house testified that Mrs. Crowder was mentally competent.
The deposition of Dr. Claude F. Brown, a psychiatrist who had treated the decedent in 1975, was read into evidence. A portion of that testimony follows:
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Oliver v. Townsend
...719 (Ala.1986). A scintilla has been defined as a "mere gleam, glimmer, spark, the least particle, the smallest trace." Howard v. Crowder, 496 So.2d 31, 32 (Ala.1986). Dr. Blake moved for summary judgment on May 14, 1984, and filed a supporting affidavit with his motion averring generally t......
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